Catch



Nov. 29, 1938. w. SHOEMAKER 2,138,514

CATCH Filed July 3, 1937 INVENTOR. M1. IAM SHOEMA/fE/Z BY ATTORNEYS.

Patented Nov. 29, 1938 PATENT OFFICE v CATCH William Shoemaker, Dayton, Ky., assignor to Decometal Incorporated, Dayton, Ky., a corporation of Kentucky Application July 3, 1937, Serial No. 151,912

1 Claim.

This invention relates to catch devices, and more particularly to a catch which is adapted for use with a ladys compact. Present day womens compacts ordinarily contain a compartment adapted to be filled with loose powder and this compartment is provided with a lid so that the loose powder will not spill out of its compartment. The lid must be provided with a catch to hold the same in closed position, and to permit opening of said lid when access is desired to the powder contained in the powder compartment.

A catch for this purpose should be extremely simple and unfailing in operation, and it is therefore an object of my invention to provide a novel catch which is extremely simple in construction and therefore cheap to manufacture, which is certain in its operation and very easy to operate.

Another object of my invention includes the provision of a catch as above outlined, which will not require the use of the finger nail in prying the catch open, and although my catch may be operated by the finger nail if desired, it operates so easily that there is no danger of breaking the finger nail.

These and other objects of my invention which will be described hereinafter or which will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which I shall now describe an exemplary embodiment.

Reference is now made to the drawing forming a part hereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a compact showing my novel catch in use.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional View taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the lid of the compact open.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 4- 3 of Fig. 2, showing the spring element of the catch.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of a portion of the compact shell showing the slot through which the catch operates.

Fig. 6 is a detailed elevational View of the catch member itself.

Fig. 7 is a detailed perspective View of the spring member.

In Fig. 1 I have shown a compact shell H! which contains a powder compartment II, and is provided with a lid I 2. The lid member l2 may be centrally depressed as shown at 12a, and have an annular flange l2b adapted to seat upon a resilient annular pad [3, located in an annular ledge I30. in the shell Ill. The lid l2 may be hinged in any conventional manner at [4.

The pad l3 the catch is released.

The catch proper which is shown in detail in Fig. 6, comprises a member l5 having an enlarged head is, and a pin portion ll, having a neck of reduced diameterat H3. The portion i6 is preferably in the form of a truncated cone, the conical surface of which is inclined at an angle of 45 to the vertical, to facilitate closing of the lid 52 by a cam action. The under side of the member It is preferably flat and it is the under side of the member 56 coacting with the upper side of the portion I21) of the lid which serves to hold the same in closed position.

In the shell Hi I provide an elongated hole l9 which in its shorter dimension is large enough to accommodate the portion [1 of the catch 15, and which in its longer dimension is suificiently long to permit the catch member IE to be retracted to a point Where the lid I2 may spring open.

The member i5 is held in position and urged toward the left as seen in the various figures, by means of a spring member 20 shown in detail in Fig. '7. The member 20 is of substantially hairpin shape and is provided at the end of one arm thereof with a turned over flange 2 l, having a slot 22 therein. The slot 22 is of a width sufficient to accommodate the narrow neck portion it of the member l5, and the member 2! is of a width greater than the width of the hole 19. The other arm of the spring member 25 may be provided with a turned over flange 23, which bears against the inside of the shell is as indicated at 24. In practice it is unnecessary that the member 23 be fastened in place since the normal resiliency of the spring member 25 will serve to hold it in place. If there is no wall to serve as an abutment as at 24, the portion 23 may be soldered to a flat surface. Furthermore the member 2! is retained within the neck portion 18 of the catch I5 thereby also preventing the spring member from being dislodged.

whereupon it may be raised with the fingers.

desired the lid member I 2 may be sprung slightly to assist in this springing action.

It is to be understood that the compact or indeed the device upon which the catch may be used, whether it is a compact or not, forms no part of my invention but that my catch may be used in connection with any kind of closure, although it is particularly adapted for use in compacts by virtue of its cheapness, simplicity and ease of operation.

It is to be understood that modification of my device may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention, and that I do not intend V 15 the claim which follows.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A catch for the frame element and closure of compacts and the like comprising a pin having a head to cooperate with said closure and a necked portion, a spring, said pin slidable laterally through an elongated hole in said frame element, the spring being of the leaf type and having a slotted element to cooperate with the necked portion of said pin to hold the same in place within said elongated hole, and said spring urging the 'pin into operative position to releasably hold said closure closed upon said frameelement.

WILLIAM SI-IOEMAKER. 

